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**** Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur ****

SpurMeUp said:
Yet commentators thought we should have been 1-0 up at HT? The merest of hands on a defender the sole reason we weren't winning at the break. Fine margins between congratulating Conte on a perfect plan no? Second half, we let in two because Tanganga and Doherty were not able to handle Hudson. Conte changed it, but too late. With a day less rest, and all the hoopla over the Lecister win, the only way we were getting a result today was if we kept a clean sheet. So Conte's broad idea was correct for me, just takes some blame for not bringing on Moura and moving Doherty back a little quicker. Hidsight makes this easy to say.
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Well I think you are putting a positive spin on a first half where Chelsea missed a bunch of other presentable chances too. Yes the Kane goal was very harshly ruled out but on the balance of play they were better than us in the first half also IMO. It was a gamble to line up as we did, but a gamble on the defense keeping it tight and nicking a goal. Another approach would have been to play with the 5 in the middle which has seen us produce some excellent performances recently . This Chelsea team have not been great of late so taking the match to them in a setup that has been working well may have worked better.
 
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DubaiSpur said:
I thought it was Saudi Sportswashing Machine and Everton?

If we could nick 25-30m off one of them for him, it would be magnificent.
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Villa scout text me about 20 mins ago

apparently it’s because they have shifted the lad to Everton

not sure how serious as he text me
 
Robspur12 said:
But we didn't have the greatest squad under Poch. No one would have looked at that squad before Poch took hold of them and said title contenders. Easy to say they were in hindsight. Conte needs to do more than whinge. He's never going to get the great players he thinks he needs, neither is he going to be here years. Needs to get on with it. 3 games against Chelsea with no goals is not acceptable imho. He needs to shoulder some responsibility for that.
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Possibly because the squad poch took over was different to the title challenging one? Many of the players like kane young and unproven.
 
DubaiSpur said:
What, from Antonio Conte?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1485325540693356551
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Saying we're far from being an important team (team on Chelsea/City level) is a world away from the brick that gets posted about the squad on here as though it's relegation fodder every time we lose.


Wrt to your other reply, Conte has been here a matter of weeks - he's a top class/world class coach, not a miracle worker - all he has been able to do is train and organise the players to play like a team, the fact we've seen such improvement with so little time shows what has been lacking the past couple of years through the terrible managerial appointments
 
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DubaiSpur said:
Last thing on this game from me - we weren't demotivated today, or uncompetitive. We showed up, tried hard, challenged for the ball. But they were just quicker to everything, better on the ball, better off it. They anticipated the bounce quicker, where the second ball was going. And when they saw opportunities, they took them - Tanganga on a yellow, they ran at him immediately.

Our lads are just...dim. Dim on the ball, dim off it. Did we run at Silva on a yellow? Like fudge. Did we force Jorginho into tackles on a yellow? Did we, fudge.

Our squad is pleasant, and utterly stupid - on a football intelligence level. When allied with class and no shortage of talent, a squad like Chelsea's wipes the floor with squads like ours precisely because of that.
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Agree with that. Didn't help that Conte messed up again. I find it difficult to understand that he does not see that with the midfield we have, we're gonna get outclassed and outplayed with only 2 CM's!
We need 3 CM's, at least against the better teams. We can play with one deep, which frees the other 2 to press and harass high up the pitch, knowing there is another CM behind to cover some of the space left.
None of the CM'S we have are good enough to play with only one of the others as a midfield pair.
And again, I honestly can't fatom that Conte doesn't see that.
 
I posted a comment after our 1st leg semi final loss a couple of weeks ago saying the performance was a disaster.
A few people disagreed with me but in all truthfulness how many people here thought we could turn that match around and then get a result away the next week in the league.
I know I might sound a bit pessimistic but thats what comes of supporting spurs for as long as I have.
 
You'd think we'd possibly be on a high after midweek but oh no, same old timid display against Chelsea. They're not even in good form and lesser teams than us are giving them far better games then we manage. So frustrating.
 
balesleftboot said:
You'd think we'd possibly be on a high after midweek but oh no, same old timid display against Chelsea. They're not even in good form and lesser teams than us are giving them far better games then we manage. So frustrating.
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Made the 2 CMs and 6 defenders in the starting XI all the more frustrating
 
I'm sure some of these things may have been said but I need to vent. It was dire.

- Chelsea have only won 4 out of 13 matches since the beginning of November in the league. We’re coming in off the back of one of the most exhilarating matches literally in our history. But instead of starting on the front foot, putting them under pressure and asking them questions, Conte decide to play 6 at the back to nullify them

- The left hand side was clearly a problem from the start. Davies was staying too narrow, Sessegnon too high - not unexpected considering our regular formation.

- On that, Conte said he played the formation because of the players available. That’s flimflam. Surely the formation is the starting point. Don’t play Doherty and Sessegnon as wide midfielders, take a chance and give Harvey White a run in midfield and play our usual way. Gamble!

- At half time, you could argue the formation was justified at 0-0 (should have been 1-0) but the writing was on the wall - it should have immediately been Skipp for Tanganga, who was clearly a liability on a yellow

- Why are we so weak and meek? There were so many 50/50s in the first half where we just accepted the ref’s decision. I’m thinking one where Mason Mount mis-dribbled and the ball looked to be over the byline. Instead of complaining and forcing the assistant referee to put up his flag, we just carried on. Then, in the moments before half time, Sanchez is clearly pushed by Lukaku in a similar way to Kane on Thiago. We accept it, and they get a corner to keep the pressure on.

You might not get that decision, but it’s not about that - it’s about getting the next one, and stamping your authority on the game. We’ve played 4 matches against Chelsea and not done it once.

- Thiago gets a yellow early on, so what do we do the rest of the match? Stay as far away from him as possible. fudging make him do something. He’s fudging 37 year old. How can we not get someone running at or beyond him to force him to do something?

Another fudging match against Chelsea, another where we just fudging rollover and accept what’s coming. And then everything after the match is “yeah but they’ve got a better team.” That didn’t stop Brighton (twice), Wolves, Everton, West Ham, Man Utd and Burnley from getting points off them recently. Yet we can’t even score a fudging goal since 2018!

Extremely fudged off.
 
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billyiddo said:
Neither can we...
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Brighton have had 12 draws, at least half of them they were the better team and if they had a decent striker they would've won.
Either way I didn't say they are better in every position. FBs they're better, one midfield, and two of the backup CB positions.
I don't think that's anything outrageous.
 
DubaiSpur said:
Squad is that bad. Manager is top class.

Only reason why we are even in with a shout - it's Conte against Arteta, Moyes and Rangnick for 4th spot.

Our squad is worse than United's, worse than Arsenal's, maybe on par with West Ham's. Again, players that were bench warmers and strugglers under Poch - Dier, Davies, Winks, Sanchez, Lucas - are now key players. That is not them improving, because nothing about them has changed. That is the squad falling to their level.
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In which case you could argue that given our model, we've actually done the smartest thing possible. Win THAT battle, get 4th and then invest...the key bit being that we actually do invest, something I am prepared to agree is far from a gimme...
 
Pirate55 said:
What else have we learnt today?

1. Bergwijn can't play centre forward.
2. Dougherty is still useless
3. Sess looks lost
4. Our midfield isn't good enough
5. Conte is not a master tactician
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Are you genuinely using today's game for that summation of our club? Dear me...

1. Bergwijn got into several fine positions, he didn't finish but he instinctively seems to know where to be.
2. Doherty was serviceable. Everyone sees an upgrade is needed, however he cost us nothing and was nearly on the end of a tap-in.
3. Sess is building confidence.
4. Compared to Chelski? No. Compared to a host of other teams? Maybe. It is why we want Kessie I'm sure.
5. We were well set out today despite injuries, and had the ref not given a phantom foul, we'd have seen how that shape worked defending a lead second-half. In fact, watch the game back. We created many opportunities to capitalize, the problem is we lack quality in the final pass too often. We are closer than people think.
 
Sad to see the overreaction. If people don't see the progress under Conte, well, there's nothing more to discuss here. Expect to add that he needs the upgrades he wants in the next 12 months I still believe that between his skills and the system we play with, plus returning stars, we will finish top 4. What was missing today was technical execution at key moments from the precise areas he has asked for upgrades in. Chelsea's tekkers are spot on, their passes executed superbly, nearly every one. We still play the wrong weight/trajactory too often at split second moments. We are, however IMO, far closer than many of you think in terms of a really strong 16. We then ned to beef up the bench.
 
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